Wednesday, 3 December 2008

STS-119 Dream Come True Mission

Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, these seven astronauts take a break from training to pose for the STS-119 crew portrait. From the right (front row) are NASA astronauts Lee Archambault, commander, and Tony Antonelli, pilot. From the left (back row) are NASA astronauts Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, all mission specialists. Wakata is scheduled to join Expedition 18 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station on STS-119. Credit: NASA

09/26/08: Space shuttle main engine No. 3 (bottom left) is ready to be installed in space shuttle Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Each engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 6,700 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. Discovery is being processed for its next mission, STS-119, targeted for launch on Feb. 12, 2009. Discovery and its crew will deliver integrated truss structure 6 (S6) and solar arrays to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

09/26/08: In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle main engine No. 3 has been installed in space shuttle Discovery. Each engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 6,700 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. Discovery is being processed for its next mission, STS-119, targeted for launch on Feb. 12, 2009. Discovery and its crew will deliver integrated truss structure 6 (S6) and solar arrays to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

09/25/08: In Orbiter Processing Facility bay 3 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a Hyster forklift (upper left) is used to raise space shuttle main engine No. 1 for installation in space shuttle Discovery. Each engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 6,700 pounds, and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle. Discovery is being processed for its next mission, STS-119, targeted for launch on Feb. 12, 2009. Discovery and its crew will deliver integrated truss structure 6 (S6) and solar arrays to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

05/20/08: Astronauts Joseph M. Acaba and Steven R. Swanson (almost totally obscured), both STS-119 mission specialists, are about to be submerged in the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Acaba and Swanson are attired in training versions of their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuits. Divers are in the water to assist the crewmembers in their rehearsal, intended to help prepare them for work on the exterior of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA